


and then there's you

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Stiles is a genie—Derek’s genie, in fact. And Derek doesn’t seem to understand what that means.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title is borrowed from Greg Laswell's _And Then You_ , which is the song that's currently playing on my Spotify.  
> Unbeta'd.

His claws are out the second smoke starts coming out of the weird kettle he found at a pawnshop. The self-loathing and guilt he feels instinctively at the sight of the smoke taste bitter and stronger than the blood in his mouth when his fangs accidentally cut his lip.

He knew that stupid kettle wasn’t worth the money he paid for it. He should’ve known better than to think that it was a normal albeit a bit kitschy gift for Laura’s birthday. It never looked right to begin with.

He throws the kettle to the far side of the living room and drops into a defensive crouch. He glares as a form begins to appear from within. As the smoke clears, Derek sees a man’s body—no, a boy’s. One that’s not much shorter but definitely less built than he himself is, clothed in a plaid shirt and loose pants. The short buzz-cut is the first thing he notices about the boy’s head, but the mouth is a close second, as it’s already moving rapidly. His eyes are open, guile yet pleased about something. Nothing about him seems hostile or aggressive.

But that doesn’t mean anything.

“Man, oh man. Finally someone let me out of that stupid lamp. You don’t know how cramped it is in there and how tiring it is to see the same old walls day in and day out for centuries. Not that it’s actually been centuries, but hey! Maybe it actually has been some odd number of centuries since someone summoned me. What year is it? Ohhh, did you guys start colonizing other planets yet? That always seemed cool, even though you guys haven’t actually developed any technology for intergalactic travel last time I was out. But maybe now you have. So—“

“Shut up.” Derek scowls threateningly at the boy, whose babbling was almost too annoying for him to handle. But since he’s not actually a threat, his claws and fangs retract. “Who are you? What are you?”

The kid throws his hands up at him. “Dude, how am I supposed to ‘shut up’ and answer your questions at the same time? Those are two opposite demands. And shouldn’t you know what I am? I mean, genies weren’t exactly unheard of, even though there’s so few of us. Or did some of us break the curse or fewer people got suckered into being genies? Have you not actually heard of genies?”

“Genies don’t exist.” Derek interrupts. He glares at the boy again. “Give me an answer.”

“Geez, I just told you. I’m a genie. A being that grants three wishes, any kind of wish, except murder, resurrection, world peace, and anything too kinky.” He looks Derek up and down and winks. “Well, maybe not the too kinky part. I’m Stiles, by the way. You can use one of your three wishes as proof if you want. Want anything? I can guarantee practically anything aside from what I mentioned earlier.”

He doesn’t hear a lie in Stiles’ words, but then again, do genies have heartbeats? He seems pretty harmless right now, and Derek can always find a way to defend himself later on.

“No? No wishes? C’mon, you must want something.”

Derek should probably buy some earplugs to protect his ears though.

“Go back inside your kettle or something. I don’t want anything from you.” Derek says.

Stiles pouts. “But I just got out of there! And it’s a lamp, not a kettle! Don’t you know anything about genies?” He looks around the room, stares interestedly at the television and the laptop before snapping his fingers. The room immediately cleans itself, Derek’s mug hops off the coffee table and in the direction of the kitchen, the afghan on the couch straightens itself out on his couch, and the dust on his media table disappearing.

“Stop that.” Derek grits out. “Leave my things alone.”

“Fine, fine.” Stiles snaps again, and everything settles down. “Just proving to your ungrateful ass that I’m actually a genie with magical powers.” He wiggles his fingers childishly at the word ‘magical.’

Derek ignores that. “I don’t care if you are a genie or whatever. I’m not going to wish for anything. Go back into your ‘lamp’ or leave. It’s your choice.” He turns around and tries to leave the room.

But Stiles somehow manages to appear in front of him without actually taking a step. “Hey, hey, what do you mean you’re not going to wish for anything? You must want something. I mean, look at your scowly face. You don’t exactly look happy at the moment.”

Derek glares at him. “I want you to leave me alone.”

Stiles lets him go, saying, “Fine. But you know where to find me when you figure out what you want. Meanwhile, I’ll just discover what new technologies people have invented.” He gives a maniacal cackle that doesn’t affect Derek in the least. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this short chapter took a year to write. The way I write/see some characters will evidently be different. I'll try to write more this upcoming hiatus after season 3A. (I'm participating in [Teen Wolf Big Bang](http://teenwolf-bb.livejournal.com) though.)

Derek slams the Toyota’s door a bit harder than he meant to, but he thinks it’s a little warranted. He has to go buy Laura a birthday gift. Again. Hopefully this next one won’t be all smoke and mirrors and magical genies that followed him around. Derek is going to Target this time instead of some weird kitschy hole-in-the-wall store. At least this way he could pick up some groceries while he’s at it.

“Dude, I think you should get an Xbox and some games. Maybe having some entertainment would turn that frown upside down.”

Derek makes sure to frown harder.

“C’mon man. Lighten up. Buy something for me.” Stiles nags. The genie has been pestering Derek incessantly ever since Derek told him he was going out to buy something for Laura. “It’s practically like my birthday anyway. I was ‘born’ again when you freed me, so I should get a present too.”

“I did not give birth to you.” Derek says, grabbing a random shopping cart. He needs to occupy his hands with something or else he’ll try to slam Stiles against a wall. “And you don’t deserve a present from me when I didn’t even intend to free you.”

“Harsh.” Stiles pretends to wince but seeing no response from Derek, he just swings his arms obnoxiously by Derek’s side. “What about if you pretend you bought it for yourself? You can at least do that, right? And then gift a present to me out of your very caring, very loving heart.”

Derek wonders what Stiles would say if he denies having a heart but figures it wouldn’t be worth the effort. Instead, he asks, “Why can’t you just materialize it the same way you would for the untold riches your previous owners wished for?” He pushes the cart through the entrance while waiting for Stiles to answer.

“It’s not that simple, Der-rek.” Stiles stretches his name annoyingly. “If you’ve ever paid attention in any chemistry class, you’ll know this. I can’t just create matter out of nothing. Everything has to come from somewhere, even magically fulfilled wishes. When a person wishes to become a millionaire, they get the money from other people, banks, stores, wherever. It’s just not all from one place or else it’ll look suspicious.”

Derek wonders what happened to all those people Stiles took money from to fulfill wishes, but he doesn’t ask. It’s none of his business anyway.

“Then you just don’t materialize anything?” He asks instead.

Stiles pushes himself into Derek’s face. “Of course not. I don’t want to take things away from other people.”

“So you just live like the rest of us mere mortals, having to get things ourselves, even though you’re a magical genie?”

“I’m just a genie, not anything special.” Stiles shrugs. “What are we doing here if you’re not getting things to entertain me? I don’t think your sister would want anything from here.”

Derek ignores him, staring at the bright jackets on display nearby. They don’t look like anything Laura would wear. Maybe he should try some jewelry instead. “You don’t know anything about Laura, and I’m getting some groceries.”

“And? What else?” Stiles asks. “Seems like there’s something more you’re looking for. Maybe you should wish for it.”

“I’m not going to wish for anything.” Derek snaps back. Especially not after Stiles told him that wishing for something tangible would take it away from someone else.

“You’re missing out, dude.” Stiles says, waving his fingers again.

Derek doesn’t say anything. The jewelry seem like a bust too. He’ll just buy groceries for now and decide later what to get Laura. He’ll just browse online for something.

Sometime later, after Derek has finished buying most of his groceries, he lingers near the electronic section, browsing DVDs. Stiles stops bugging Derek as he wanders around the store nearby, inspecting everything as if he’s never seen those things before. He pokes experimentally at an iPad on display and makes a surprised noise when tablet starts playing music.

Derek almost laughs at him but coughs to hide the sound.

Stiles spins around and waves his arms around excitedly. “Whoa, Derek. Did you see that? I just pressed something, and it just started playing music! I don’t see any gramophone or record. What is it? Where’s the sound coming from?”

His enthusiasm couldn’t be faked, and Derek feels slightly guilty for repeatedly shutting him down earlier. The modern world must seem so foreign to Stiles, but he’s handling it so well.

“That thing’s called an iPad. It’s a tablet with a built-in speaker, and it doesn’t need records or gramophones to play music. You just have to put music on the iPad or go online with it.” Derek explains uncomfortably.

Stiles blinks in wonder at Derek and the iPad. “Is it something like your lap-top?” Stiles says the word “laptop” awkwardly, as if it was two separate words. He still seems amazed that something so light and portable could write documents, send emails and messages, watch videos, and do so much other stuff.

“Yes, it’s a bit like my laptop. It’s more like my cell phone though, with its touch screen and apps.” Derek says. He watches as Stiles messes around with the iPad some more. Once he is satisfied with that, Stiles is looking around curiously and a bit wistfully.

Maybe Derek should get Stiles something after all. Just to teach him a bit more about the real world instead of the supernatural world. Not because Derek likes Stiles or anything.

“Are you done yet? Those flimsy things don’t do anything, and you can’t even open them without buying one.” Stiles complains as Derek pulled a hand away from some DVD case.

Derek rolls his eyes, not feeling up to explaining the concepts of DVDs. “I’m done now. Let’s check out, and I’ll go pick up some dinner.” He eyes the thin form of Stiles, wondering if Stiles needs to eat food too.

Derek has no doubt that Stiles would demand loudly for some food if Derek eats something Stiles has never seen before. He might as well just order something for Stiles too then. He’ll pick up an extra burger and curly fries later, even though he's pretty sure those things already existed during the time of "gramophones" and "records."

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://singingharlot.tumblr.com/)


End file.
